Alderfer/Three Sisters Park (Evergreen)

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As I've mentioned before, the weather in Colorado can be extraordinarily hard to predict. The week before this hike, the temperatures were normal for late September (low 70's). Then a fluke storm moved in on Saturday and dumped the first substantial snow in the high country. By the time I made it up to Evergreen for this hike, the snow was all gone, but the evidence of the storm could be seen up on Mt. Evans and certainly felt in the crisp air.

Alderfer/Three Sisters is one of Jefferson County's open space parks and is just outside of downtown Evergreen. The "Three Sisters" are actually three large rock formations that jut out above the thick pine forest just west of town. There are actually four major formations in the park: the Three Sisters and the Brother. The latter isn't quite as visible from the surrounding area, but provides excellent views at the top. In fact, the Brother was originally used as a lookout back in the early days of Evergreen. The park can be separated into northern and southern sections: the Three Sister and the Brother are in the northern part, while Evergreen Mountain occupies the southern part. For this hike, I decided to focus on the covering as much distance as possible in the northern section. For the most part, this was a pretty easy few hours of hiking. The trails wind gradually between the Sisters and down into the surrounding meadows of the park's northern reaches. There were several new trails that had recently been added, which lead down into a shallow gulch, but since they weren't marked on my trail map, I only stayed on them briefly. Before leaving, I made sure to get to the Brother's Lookout, where I was rewarded by stunning views of snow-covered Mt. Evans. Most of the northern part trails can be covered in just a few hours thanks to the low difficulty level. At some point in the future, I plan to return to try out the southern part of the park.

Directions: From Denver, take I-70 west to the El Rancho exit (252). Continue on Hwy 74 into downtown Evergreen, then turn south on Hwy 73. Take a right on Buffalo Park Road and choose from one of two parking lots.

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